Pokémon Souls
by Meowth Thief
Summary: Crystal and Gold, childhood pals, must show Silver, son of Team Rocket Boss Giovanni, that Pokémon are meant to be befriended and loved as they journey through Johto on an exciting adventure. Better inside. Summary temporary. Based on Crystal Version.


**Title: **Pokémon Souls  
**Summary:** Crystal and Gold, childhood pals, must show Silver, son of Team Rocket Boss Giovanni, that Pokémon are meant to be befriended and loved as they journey through Johto on an exciting adventure.  
**Chapter:** 0. Goodbye, Gold  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** N/A  
**Disclaimer:** Don't own the Pokémon franchise, only a few of the games, sadly. Not making any money off this (obviously) or whatever. I don't really own the characters, either.

Note: I've had this idea for awhile and wrote a (horrid) draft of it awhile ago. I remembered it after hearing about the G/S/C remakes HeartGold and SoulSilver (so totally psyched about those, btw, but unhappy that Kris was replaced - blue haired girls are kinda my thing - and the title I thought of before "Soul" appeared, by the way, I remember one of the game characters or something saying it somewhere) and thought, even though it was crappy, it had potential. So I rewrote the first part and decided to put it up as my first story. The characters appearances are as they are in the game/anime, but their personalities I touched up a bit, as you'll see as I go along. Their Pokémon also aren't the same as in the game, as a forewarning. This is also a romance story (because I'm hopeless) but you'll have to figure out who the pairing is. -3-~

I read a little bit of the manga, and I absolutely love how you can see the Pokémon inside their Balls. That just makes sense to me, so it's here too.

It starts off boring. I hate introductory stuff.

I think that's it. Constructive criticism greatly appreciated. Enjoy.

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Crystal stood to the side, her blue eyes trained on the three Poké Balls lined up on the table. Her best and childhood friend, Gold, was currently hovering his hand over each Ball in turn, peering at the Pokémon within. She fidgeted, torn between wanting him to hurry up and take his time. Once he chose one of the starters - either Chikorita, Cyndaquil, or Totodile - Gold would begin his grand journey into the world of Pokémon… leaving Crystal behind.

The dark haired boy glanced at her before placing his hand over the first Poké Ball, the one that contained Chikorita. "I'll take this one," he told the tall, straight-backed man on the other side of the table. The man, Johto's very own Professor Elm, smiled.

Crystal looked away, staring around the lab unhappily. She had known Gold her whole life. It was frustrating to have to wait a whole month before she could follow him out into the Pokémon world. _I don't want to wait! I should get to go, too. I'm just as tall as he is, I could pass for a ten year old._ Dejectedly, she watched Elm hand Gold all the things he'd need - a trainer's card, a badge case, and a Pokédex. The yellow eyed boy grinned at his reflection briefly in the shiny new card as he tucked it and the badge case and Pokedex away into his newly acquired pack. He waved at Professor Elm and his father, who handed him a Potion he also stashed away, and then started towards her.

Linking her hands behind her back, she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes in an attempt to hide her look of betrayal.

"Sorry, Crys." He smiled sympathetically at her. "I'll see you in a month or two though. I'm looking forward to battling you!" Gold grinned and Crystal managed to smile back before he waved once more at the two men and headed out the Laboratory's door. _Or __**two**__?_

_He's gone._ She stared at the closed door for a few minutes after it had shut. _It'll be a whole month, no, longer, before I see him again. What will I do for a month without Gold? We were going to climb onto Mrs. Pine's roof!_

Gold's father clearing his throat brought her out of her thoughts. "Your mother's probably worrying about you, Crystal," he said, smiling hesitantly, "you should probably go home, you know how she gets when she hasn't seen you for more than an hour."

Grimacing, Crystal nodded and left the lab. Outside, the fresh, woodsy smell of the neighboring Routes floated around in the air. It was a beautiful day, but she was unable to enjoy it with Gold's departure hanging over her hat-covered head. She kicked at the dirt as she walked the short distance home. The lab was only next door, with Elm's actual house was on the other side. On the other side of Crystal's house was Gold's and that was the entirety of their side of the street.

"Crystal!" Her mother practically flew out the door, dark hair flying, eyes wide and alarmed. "Oh, there you are! Did you say goodbye to Gold?" She smiled widely down at her daughter, who smiled weakly and nodded back. "Oh, honey, you'll see him again. I'm sure he'll visit."

_Visit?_ Crystal glared at her overprotective mother, who refused to accept the fact Crystal herself was going on a Pokémon journey. _**I**__'ll be the one who's visiting __**you**__._

Oblivious to her child's expression, Marie took Crystal's hand and lead her inside. "It's nearly time for lunch, and I'm sure that Rattata you and Gold were taking care of needs to be fed, too. Mew knows I can't - it only likes you."

_And Gold,_ she added mentally as she trotted up the stairs to her room. The cardboard box holding the baby Rattata was still at the end of her bed, and she knelt down beside it after grabbing a box of Pokémon food from her dresser. _Kind of._ She was pretty sure a passing Spearow, who were much more aggressive than the native Pidgey, had pecked the poor thing close to fainting. Gold had snagged it up, gotten bit, and given to Elm to heal up with his machine - what the machine couldn't do, however, was cure the sickness it had seemed to have caught while weakened.

_It's weird how it took so completely to me, the moment I touched it,_ Crystal thought idly as she scattered the food and a few berries on the floor of the box. _It took days for it to let Gold to touch it again._ The Rattata smiled up at her and with a soft chattering began snatching up the tiny assortment of food she'd provided.

_I should let it go soon. It looks healthy enough._ She watched it with a clinging feeling of longing. She wanted one of the starter Pokémon. She wanted to go on a Pokémon journey. She wanted to walk down Route 29 without knowing she'd have to return to her overprotective and worrying mother by nightfall. More than anything, she wanted to meet Pokémon, Pokémon and people, from around the world. Maybe not just Johto… there was Kanto as well, and it wasn't far from Johto - a cave or something away.

Rattata yawned and crawled on top of a pile of dirty washcloths and towels, preparing for sleep. She stroked the top of the purple and white Pokémon's head for a moment, and then stood up and headed downstairs for her own lunch. _One whole month…_


End file.
